Palada Payasam

Our festivities are incomplete without sweets. And how can a Kerala sadya be complete without a payasam. The king of payasams, as I love to call it, is the palada payasam. This delicious payasam makes its way into almost all sadyas as I feel this is one of the most loved paal (milk) payasams of all.

A typical palada payasam is known for it’s light pink color which is from the simmering of milk and sugar for a long time. And that’s what gives this payasam a delicious taste too. However, if you do not have so much time, there are many shortcut recipes you will find to make palada payasam. Some use condensed milk, some add a little caramelized sugar for the pink color and some pressure cook the milk and sugar too.

The palada payasam recipe I am sharing here uses the pressure cooker method. This reduces the time taken to cook the milk and sugar together and also avoids the continuous stirring process for the same.

For other Onam recipes I have already shared, please check this.

Palada Payasam

Course: DessertCuisine: KeralaDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

45

minutes

A must-have in all Kerala Sadyas – the Palada Payasam

Ingredients

• Full Fat Milk – 2 cups

• Water – 1 cup

• Sugar – 2-3 tbsp (adjust as per taste)

• Ada – 1/4 cup

• Water – 2 cups

• Salt – a pinch

• Ghee – 1-2 tsp

Directions

• In a pressure cooker, add milk, water and 2 tbsp sugar and let it come to a boil. Once it boils, close the pressure cooker lid and reduce the heat to minimum and let it cook for 30 min with the weight on. Turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally.
• While the milk is pressure cooking, heat water and add the ada to it. Cook the ada till its soft.
• Turn off the heat, drain the water and add cold water immediately to the ada to stop cooking.
• In a kadai, heat a little ghee and to this, add the cooked ada and saute it for a couple of min.
• To this, add the cooked milk and salt and cook it all together for another 8-10 min till the milk thickens.
• Once the palada has thickened, turn off the heat. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe Video